"BioDesign" - a Project Established by Pentagon to Create Artificial Life Forms

"BioDesign" is a project which goal is to create artificial life forms that will live forever, or until they are allowed to die.

U.S. Department of Defense's, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2011 financial year will support 6 million dollar project, which aims to create artificial life forms. It is believed that such organisms could live virtually forever.

The new DARPA project, ordered by the Pentagon, is called "BioDesign". According to DARPA representatives, it will use the most recent developments in biotechnology and will permit genetic engineering to create living, breathing organisms capable of offering certain biological characteristics.

The Agency shall not publish whether these artificial organisms will be multicellular, it only highlights the fact that their cells will be resistant to the aging process and death. For example, cancer cells have similar characteristics.

These new creations will be introduced with DNA markers which will help to identify them similar as firearms are identified by the serial numbers. It also seeks to protect them from the activities of the program change.

DARPA also wants to introduce them with a "switch", which will act at the level of lasting cells and its purpose will be immediate self-destruction.

It is reported that DARPA is also planning to allocate 20 million dollars for the new synthetic biology program. The agency is planning to invest another 7.5 million dollars in genome analysis and acceleration of the exchange program.

In New York University Biology Professor David Fitch's view, DARPA seeks to change the viewpoint of evolution as a random sequence of events. However, the objective to create immortal beings can be too difficult. Recent developments in gene therapy, which were achieved by inserted artificial genes into the bodies of mice to increase cell longevity, prolonged their life by only 20 percent.

"BioDesign" program description is represented in the DARPA 2011 draft budget in page 265.

Perhaps this new invention of artificial life will help in observing the aging process and the cure for the most vital human "disease" - aging, will be established. But the frightening thing is that the project is financed by the military organization and lets hope that this new invention is not being created for war purposes.

Source here.